Studies on the effect of various sterilants and culture conditions on in-vitro seed germination in tomato (solanum lycopersicum).

Studies on the effectiveness of various sterilants and culture conditions on in-vitro seed germination in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cv. PKM-1 revealed that among three sterilants used, surface sterilization of seeds with 5 % NaOCl for 20 minutes was found to be more effective resulting in high germination rate and contamination free cultures. Similarly among the different media and culture conditions considered in the present experiment, MS medium without sucrose with dark incubation for three days recorded lower no. of days (3.3 days) for initiation of germination with 96 % germination. These findings could be well exploited for further development of quick regenerative and transformation protocols for the tomato cv.PKM-1.